How we work

We aim to provide a client-centered and needs-based service that is tailored to suit the different needs of each individual. Our flexible approach allows therapists to be open to working online or face-to-face in different environments and at different times of the day e.g. at home or in school, before, during or after schools etc., so that we can:
  • > Promote communication skills
  • > Provide individuals with the opportunity to maximise their potential:
    • in social situations
    • in schools and colleges
    • within the world of work
  • > Give realistic and honest assessments
  • > Listen to young people and their parents

Our Principles

The experience of our therapists has helped us to be clear about our overriding principles. We aim to work with these in mind:
  • > Communication underlies all social, academic and work activities
  • > By enabling a client to feel more confident and independent, we provide them with the opportunity to maximise their communication potential
  • > A multi-disciplinary approach is essential to achieving this potential
  • > Realistic and honest prognosis helps guide future plans
  • > Listening to what clients and parents want is essential, whilst also helping families to understand communication challenges.

Who we are

Maria Bailey

Maria trained as a speech and Language Therapist at the UCE in Birmingham, qualifying in 1994. She is a registered speech and language therapist with the Health and Care Professions Council and a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Maria’s experience as a therapist has focused on working with children, adolescents and young adults and she has developed a specialism in the areas of autistic spectrum conditions (ASC), emotional behavioural challenges and specific speech and language impairments.

Over the years, Maria has been fortunate enough to gain a variety of experience both in the UK and abroad. She has been part of a Leadership Team in a secondary special school catering for students with diagnoses of ASC and related difficulties and has set up speech and language services in two independent secondary schools. In the past, she has managed a Language Department attached to a mainstream school, promoted SALT services on the island of St Lucia and worked as part of the NHS Speech and language therapy mainstream schools service.

Maria has developed a professional interest in the area of Social Thinking™, an approach created by Michelle Garcia Winner in the United States. Over the past few years she has attended a number of courses in the UK led by Michelle Garcia Winner, and completed the Clinical Training Level 1A in California taught by Michelle Garcia Winner and Pamela Crooke.

Jenny Dando

Jenny has over ten years of experience working with children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. She is a fully certified registrant of the Health and Care Professions Council and a member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Jenny has worked in a variety of mainstream primary and secondary schools as part of NHS services and worked as an independent practitioner. She has supported children to develop their speech sounds, expressive and receptive language and social communication skills whilst working alongside teachers and families to develop their understanding of the young person’s strengths and needs. She spent many years working in an ‘Outstanding’ specialist school for young people with autism, where she was the lead speech and language therapist and part of the school’s management team.

Jenny has a specialist interest in working with young people with autism and has completed many courses in different therapeutic approaches to develop skills in this area including Social Thinking® and Social Stories™. Jenny is also a certified provider of the PEERS® Adolescent intervention programme.

Jenny’s main aim when working with young people and their families is to think functionally and make therapy relevant and useful to everyday life.

Charmaine Zubal

Charmaine is an experienced paediatric Occupational Therapist, with a demonstrated history of working in clinics, the primary/secondary education industry, within the UK and more recently in the Middle East.

Skilled in Assessing, Intervention planning, Parent Education, Sensory Integration, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Strong professional with a PgCert.focused in Sensory Integration Therapy from The University of Ulster.

“There is potential in every child, it is the adult’s responsibility to allow for its growth”.